As much as I admire the work of Keats, I must admit I was thoroughly entertained by John Gibson Lockhart's critical review of the poet and the Cockney School of Poetry. The most impressive aspect of Lockhart's attack is the craft with which he praises Keats's character and promise while simultaneously ridiculing every aspect of the man's poetry. This technique most likely appealed to the admirers of Keats who could easily be swayed to believe their fancy was a result of the poet's overall likability and not his talent.
The metaphor with which Lockhart opens his critique is comical enough to make any Keats lover chuckle. His explanation of "Metromanie"and its unfortunate symptoms paint the Cockney School and its poetry as a phenomenon from which any smart man would do best to escape. It also plays back into the idea of Keats being more a victim of the current movement than an offender, as Lockhart admits that "all (talent) has been undone by a sudden attack of the malady to which we have alluded." Lockhart does not blame Keats, but he does blame that which he has created. His portrayal of this interpretation of the poet as perfectly okay--right, even--could have easily convinced Keats's fans to fall into agreement.
Lockhart's humor and cleverness is all it took for me to continue reading Keats's "How many bards gild the lapses of time," "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," "On Seeing Elgin Marbles," and "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
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